Today on "Camera Three"(02:04)

Influences on Writing(02:13)

Grass' mother was part of a book club in Germany and introduced him to Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Grigori Rasputin. He did not read Thomas Mann, Franz Kafka, or Alfred Döblin until after World War II. "Don Quixote" inspired Lettau.

Thoughts on Gottfried Benn(02:44)

Johnson and Lettau feel that Benn's work was inspirational and he should not be penalized for his short affiliation with the Nazi party. Joseph Goebbels recited a letter of Benn's written to German immigrants during a radio address.

Other German Writers(02:25)

Eric Kohler believes that Ernst Junger was responsible for German youth joining the Third Reich. Lettau and Johnson agree that Junger's work does contain some Nazi philosophy. Grass explains that Benn wrote a novel after the war, which did not contain any explanation of his beliefs.

On Language(05:23)

Hans Magnus Enzensberger and Felix Steiner postulate that the German language was destroyed during the Nazi years. Grass believes that novelists should write against the language of the time. Johnson created a new language in "Speculations."

Plays(02:44)

Lettau would like to choreograph a dance. "The Man outside the Glass" did not influence "The Obstacle Course." The panelists discuss how Wolfgang Borchert novels are still read in school, but one of his plays was recently booed in Munich.

German or French Language(03:57)

Lettau explains that Boyle cannot blame Frederick the Great for not knowing the German language because all scholarly writings were written in French. Panelists argue the merits of Frederick the Great.

East German Authors(03:48)

Arnold Zweig and Anna Seghers returned to East Germany following World War II. Wolf Biermann, Günter Kunert, and Dieter Noll emerge as young authors who are not recognized by western critics. Johnson's books are still banned in East Germany even though in his book the protagonist refuses to choose between East and West Germany.

"The Serpent's Cross"(02:06)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was both a poet and bureaucrat. The panelists discuss his writings. James Macandrew summarizes the episode.

Description

Günter Grass, Uwe Johnson, and Reinhardt Lettau discuss their inspirations, influences, and the role of the German writer after World War II. Kay Boyle moderates the discussion on this episode of Camera Three.